Wondercon 2012

I am back from this year’s Wondercon in Anaheim! I always have an awesome time at geek Conventions and this year is no exception. Once again I was there with Gemini. This is only our 2nd Wondercon. We went once before in 2010 when it was still at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. You can check out Gemini’s coverage of Wondercon 2010 here. Not sure why the organizers decided to move it to the Anaheim Convention Center this year in SoCal. But for me it really doesn’t matter since I’ve lived in SoCal and NorCal.

I was only there Friday and Saturday. I probably should have taken more pics, but still I’ll post what I have here.

Capcom Booth

This is the only pic I took at the Capcom booth. They were heavily promoting two games. One was Street Fighter X Tekken, which came out early March. I’m a big fighting game fan so I’ll probably pick this up later. The other game was Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, pictured above. This is an awesome looking game! I only vaguely heard about this, but seeing it live in person has convinced me that I must get this. RE Operation Raccoon City is a multi-player third-person shooter set in the famous city of RE origin. I don’t play FPS or TPS all that much, but this I must play! I’m a RE die-hard, having completed the original RE, RE Director’s Cut, RE 2, RE 3, RE Code Veronica, RE 0, and RE Outbreak. Not sure what the story is, but the players appear to be military forces sent in to contain the bio hazard outbreak in RC. Very cool. The game came out 2 days ago. Get yours now!

Kotobukiya Booth

The Kotobukiya booth was located right in the center of the dealer’s room, so there’s no way to miss it. And chances are you would pass by it multiple times. They are releasing some very cool figures at reasonable prices. There’s a figure of Christie from Tekken that is begging for me to buy. I really don’t collect bishoujo figures anymore, but part of me is still tempted, so it took a lot of willpower to walk away. Still, if I find one someday for cheap, I just might buy it. I took several pics at this booth and they appear below.

Avengers Booth

This is a booth promoting the upcoming Avengers movie this summer. The booth was quite large. Hollywood booths are always grandiose and extravagant. I’m not sure what was happening here when I took this pic. We have some nice cosplayers of Cobra Commander and some random Cobra chick. They were doing some kind of dance and moving way too fast for me to shoot a nice pic. Not sure if they were fans or hired.

Other Dealers’ Booths

Below are some pics of smaller local retailers. I took pics of their items. I’m always left in awe at how much stuff they bring to these events.

Cosplayers

No anime/comic/toy convention is complete without Cosplayers. There were some good ones at Wondercon 2012, but I only managed to snap one pic of these gorgeous ladies below. I don’t know who they’re supposed to be though.

Last but certainly not least…

Sara Jean Underwood! Yes gentlemen, the beautiful Sara Jean was on hand to sign autographs. I probably should have lined up to take a pic with her. The line was not that long and she seemed real friendly with the fans. If you don’t know who she is, this should help educate you. NSFW!

My Wondercon 2012 Haul

No trip to any anime/toy/comic convention is complete without acquiring some loot. And so I proudly present my acquisitions from Wondercon 2012 :

Masterpiece Optimus Prime MP-10 – I have been wanting to get the latest Masterpiece figure of the legendary Optimus Prime for some time now. This is a brand new mold from MP-1 or MP-4. He is smaller like the more recent MPs and he doesn’t have any die-cast, but he is more show accurate and he’s got even more features than before. I’ve seen many YouTube reviews about this figure already and there’s nothing but praises. I can’t wait to open mine, when I get some time. Best part: a dealer I know at Wondercon hooked me up with this MP-10 for only $200!

Star Wars Transformer Clone Pilot Arc-170 Starfighter – I’ve seen this figure before, like at TRU or Walmart. A dealer saw me eyeing this and offered it to me for $10. I’ve been disappointed with most of my SW TFs recently, but for $10 you really can’t go wrong so I figured why not.

Before I wrap up this post, I’ll include some misc and random thoughts:

On Friday there was a panel with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill to promote the opening of 21 Jump Street. We didn’t try to go, but I can only imagine what a mad house it must have been. I don’t think we could’ve got in even if we tried.

On Saturday there was a panel with Milla Jovovich promoting the 5th Resident Evil movie. Me, Gemini, and his wife tried to go to that. We made it up to the 3rd floor right before security stopped people from going up the escalator. We barely made it, or so we thought! When we finally got in line, security quickly pointed out that if you’re behind a certain spot in line, you probably won’t get in. We were way behind the spot and so we left. We then learned that some people have been lining up since 7AM. Crazy!

Parking for Wondercon 2012 was a total bitch. On Fri I waited about 15 min on Katella Ave before I got into the parking sturcture. On Sat I waited about 30 min. I can’t even begin to imagine what parking would be like for the BIG conventions, like SDCC or AX. Speaking of AX…

My very first Anime Expo was in 94. Back then it was at the Mariott Hotel right next to the Anaheim Convention Center. That was my first geek convention of any kind. In 94 it broke records too, with about 2000 attendees. Parking and lining up for things were not an issue at all. Seeing that Mariott again after all these years, it sure brings back memories. Good memories. And I’m left amazed at how far these conventions have come.

There was a girls’ Volleyball thing going on right next to Wondercon, in the same convention center. That was pretty big too. I wonder what those girls thought of Wondercon…

Eating near Anaheim Convention Center for Wondercon is not an issue. We ate at a nearby IHOP and a Chinese place that’s like a Panda Express. Getting a seat is no problem, unlike going to AX these days.

As a TransFan, Wondercon is probably not the best convention. But tickets are affordable and they’re easy to get. I had fun so I do recommend it.

Oh yeah, on Fri at the con I checked March Madness scores. That’s when I found out that my pick to win it all lost in the 1st round! Stupid Missouri. Total bummer for me.

That about covers it. My experience at Wondercon 2012. It is growing and I think next year it will be even better. Until the next convention… Transform and Roll Out!

The dude that sold it to me, I know him personally. So he hooked it up for $200 🙂 But the starting asking price was only $220, very reasonable.
So how do you like MP-10? I’m sure its awesome. I have not had time to mess with it.